Origin and history
The Konzentrationslager Natzweiler, better known as the Struthof camp, was established in 1941 by the Nazis on Mount Louise, near the Alsatian village of Natzwiller (germanized in Natzweiler), after the actual annexation of Alsace by the Third Reich. The site was chosen to exploit a rose granite line, on direct orders from Heinrich Himmler. The first deportees, transferred from the Sachsenhausen, Dachau and Buchenwald camps, arrived in May 1941 to build the infrastructure. Initially planned for 3,000 prisoners, the camp counted up to 6,000 in 1944, before its evacuation.
Between 1941 and 1945, about 50,000 prisoners were registered in the main camp or its 70 side camps, distributed in Alsace, Moselle and Germany. Deportees were mostly political opponents, resistors (including 7,000 French), forced labourers raided in Eastern Europe (35% Polish and Soviet), and 11% of Jews, often assigned to annexes. The Struthof also became a place of mass executions for death row prisoners in the Nazi courts of Alsace-Moselle and Baden-Württemberg, as well as a medical experimentation centre led by scientists from Ahnenerbe, including Professor August Hirt.
The camp was the only one in Europe to remain operational after the evacuation of its main site, via its annexes, until April 1945. About 17,000 deaths were recorded, victims of inhumane conditions, abuse, death marches (5,000 victims in 1944-1945) or gassing (86 Jews murdered in August 1943 for anatomical research). Released by the Americans on November 25, 1944, the Struthof was also the first Nazi camp discovered by the Allies in the West. After the war, he briefly served as a camp for collaborators before becoming a memorial.
The Struthof distinguished itself by its role in the decree Nuit et Brouillard (Nacht und Nebel), aimed at removing the resistors without leaving traces. From June 1943, more than 2,400 "NN" deportees (including French, Belgian and Dutch) were transferred there, subjected to an even more brutal regime. Medical experiments were particularly deadly: mustard gas tests (Professor Hirt), typhus (Eugen Haagen) or phosgene (Otto Bickenbach), often on Gypsies or ordinary detainees. The gas chamber, built in 1943, was also used for these experiments.
The organization of the camp was based on a ruthless SS hierarchy, with five successive commanders, including Joseph Kramer (known as "the Beast of Belsen") and Friedrich Hartjenstein. The guards, who came from the SS-Totenkopfverbände or the Wehrmacht, were in charge of kapos (inmates promoted to overseers), often as violent. After the evacuation in September 1944, the annexes continued to operate until liberation, with deportees transferred to Dachau or other camps. Several trials took place after the war, condemning SS officials and kapos, but many escaped justice.
Today, the Struthof site is a major memorial site, recalling Nazi crimes in France. It houses a museum, exhibitions on medical experiments, and memorials. The pink granite, exploited by the deportees, symbolizes the barbarity of the concentration system, while the remains of the camp (crematory, barracks) testify to the conditions of detention. Ranked a historic monument, it welcomes thousands of visitors each year to honour the victims and educate on the dangers of totalitarianism.
